So is Gerry Adams still an MP or not?

Oh what a farce! Only in Britain could this happen. You see Gerry Adams (Sinn Fein MP for West Belfast) wants to resign his position so he can stand for the parliament in the Irish Republic instead. Only the problem is the British MPs can't just resign. Traditionally this is because being an MP is thought of as a serious office that shouldn't just be chucked away lightly. Therefore, if a British MP wants to resign he needs to apply for an office of profit under the Crown (either Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds or Baron of the Manor of Northstead.

Unfortunately for Mr Adams, a staunch Irish Republican accepting a job from the British Crown would be completely unacceptable. Thus he just wrote a letter to the Speaker resigning. However, in order to maintain tradition this has been interpreted in Whitehall as a request for one of the said offices and Mr Adams has been duly appointed to the Crown Office of Baron of the Manor of Northstead. Duly appointed, that is, without his knowledge until David Cameron stood up in the Commons and announced he'd accepted the office. There followed hasty denials of any such acceptance by Sinn Fein and here we are at a very British impasse with nobody really sure whether Belfast West techinically has an MP or not. It really is quite hilarious in its own way.

One possible way forward would be for Mr Adams to do something in order to get himself expelled from the Commons (actually, just speaking in the House would technically be enough, as not having taking the oath he is barred from speaking despite being an MP). However, this would require him setting foot in Westminster something he has steadfastly refused to do in 23 years as an MP. And so the saga rolls on...